[NAFEX] Whose fruit trees didn't freeze?
Doreen Howard
gardendiva at charter.net
Fri Apr 13 20:25:47 EDT 2007
I'm cautiously optimistic that my fruit came through two weeks of frigid
temps (down to 12F one night) and snow every day or two in decent shape.
This weather hit after several weeks of spring temperatures that swelled
buds, brought 1,500 daffodils to bloom and the lilacs to show their flower
buds. All the daffodils ended up as mushy piles of goo on the ground, and
we won't talk about the tulips, which are struggling.
A quick tour of the orchard this afternoon, after yesterday's snow melted,
shows that the Montrose apricot I grew from a pit given to me by Del Stubbs,
has pink buds that will flower tomorrow probably. Apples are showing flower
buds, and what leaves are emerging are a bit browned on their edges. Looks
like the apples will flower within the next week, as will the Saturn peach.
My graft Asian pear (Korean Giant with Shinseiki grafts) is probably the
worst. All tips had swelled, were showing leaf rosettes and buds when the
latest snows hit. These are brown on the edges, but I think they will
flower. Compact Stella cherry is still dormant, although there are a few
buds swelling, as are those on the miniature Le Nain Vert pear.
If anything is lost, it may various blueberries. All five varieties had fat
flower buds that are now browned. I'm not seeing any dessication in the
buds, but they are totally bronzed. Alpine strawberries look like piles of
mush, too. All three grape varieties are in good shape as they have not
broken bud yet.
Doreen Howard
Zone 4b, Wisconsin-Illinois border
More information about the nafex
mailing list